Garment spot-removing device



Aug. 17, 1954 D, A. FREEMAN GARMENT SPOT-REMOVING DEVICE Filed April 11, 1950 Patented Aug. 17, 1954 2,686,694 GARMENT SPOT-REMOVING nEvIoE David A. Freeman, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Dryco e, N.Y., a corporation of Corporation, Syracus New York Application April 11, 1950, Serial No. 155,273

i one forthe blending fluid, andalso a separate brush, the latter whichhelped loosen dirtparticles when necessary. Thus the use of a brush and separate guns for removing the spots was awkward for the operator to handle a well as time-consuming.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide, therefore, a device which combines the brush and the various guns into one unit.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a device which is lightweight and convenient to handle and combines in one unit the various guns and brush as heretofore required for effectively removing spots from a soiled garment.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a device which enables live steam and blending fluid to be discharged therefrom separately or in concert.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a spottin gun which is simple in construction, efficient in operation, and inexpensive to produce.

Further and additional objects will appear from the description, accompanying drawings, and appended claims.

in accordance withone embodiment of this invention, a device is provided comprising a steam conducting means connected to a steam supply and a fluid conducting means connected to a i s 2 Claims; (Cl. 299-86) pressurized blending fluid supply. A handle is s, 6

provided which is connected to the steam and fluid conducting means. Theoutlets for the conducting; means are exposed and arranged so that the discharge therefrom is directed to substantially the same area on a garment being cleaned while the device is held in substantially a fixed position with respect to the garment.

e For a more complete understanding of the invention reference should now be made to the drawings, wherein Figure .1 is aside elevational view of a spotting board showing: the device and its associated mechanism. A second pressurized tank fora different type of blending fluid isshown in dotted lines when the modified device shown in Fig. ,5 is used.

. i 2 Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one form of the device.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the device shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an end view of the device shown in Fig. 3. i l

i Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of device. i

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of another modified form of device wherein. no steam conducting means is provided.

Referring now to the drawing and more particularly to Fig. 1, one form of the device I 0, to be hereinafter referred to as a gun, is shown used in combination with a conventional type spotting board or table II. The table consists of a top [2 over which the garment to be cleaned is laid, a

support column It in which the steam outlet, not shown, is located, and a stand M for said column which is bolted to the floor I5. A plurality of foot pedals 16 are provided on stand 14, one of which controls the output of the steam outlet. Resting on floor i 5 adjacent column 13 is a pressurized tank ll which contains the blending or ring-obliterating fluid. Mounted on the top of the tank 11 is a pressure gauge LB, and an adapter 20. The adapter enables an outside source of air-pressure, such as the common pneumatic supply of the establishment, to be utilized for pressurizing the tank. The adapter is provided with a safety valve to prevent excessive pressure being developed within the tank by the outside source. An opening, not shown, is provided at the top of the tank to enable the operator to refill the tank when required.

A hand pump.2l is shown mounted on the tank which is used when no outside source of air-pressureis available. In such a situation, the operator before usin the gun l0, gives the piston 22 of the pump a few strokes until the desired pressure within the tank is attained. The developed pressure is indicated by the gauge l8. Wherean outside source of air-pressure is available, the pump 2| may be eliminated.

Connected to the top ofthe tank III and extending therefrom to the gun I!) is a flexible hose 23, which is designated as the fluid line. Leadingfrom the steam outlet, which is disposed within columnl3, is a flexible hose l9, designated as the steam line.

The gun Ill, shown in Figs. 1-4, comprises a hollow, heat insulated handle 24, and a pair of tube-like members 25 and 26 extending there- 6 through Member 25 has one end 2'! thereof grooved and connected to the fluid line 23. The

grooves 29 enable line 23 to more firmly embrace the end 21. Afiixed to the other end of member 25, which projects beyond handle 24, is a hand-operated spray control nozzle 28. The nozzle is of a convential construction and well known by those skilled in the art. Upon depressing the finger lever 30 of the nozzle, which is conveniently positioned adjacent handle 24, the fluid from tank I! is discharged from the lower end 3| of the nozzle in the form of a spray or mist. The end 3! of the nozzle may be adjusted so as to emit either a fine or heavy spray. Various parts of the nozzle 23 may be readily disassembled for cleaning when desired.

Tube-like member 26 is positioned substantially parallel to member within handle 24. One end 32 of member 23 is grooved, similar to. endlzl of member 25, and is embraced by line [9. The other end 33 of member 26 projects beyond the end of the handle and is ofiset upwardly to form a loop. The discharge orifice 34; of. end 33 is flattened somewhat so that the steam will bedischarged in the form of a spray. By having end 33 looped, any condensate which might be collected in member 23 will not drip from the orifice 34 when the gun is resting on the top l2 of the table I l, as shown in Fig. l. 7

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the end 33 of member 2.6 and the nozzle 28. are relatively so arranged so that the steam and fluid will be discharged to substantially the same point on the garment being cleaned when the gun is held in a relatively fixed position above the garment. Thus the operator does not have to. continually move the gun so that thesteamand fluid sprays will overlap.

Mounted beneath end 33 of member 26 and adjacent handle 24, is a brush 35 which may be used for loosening the. dirt particles from the spotted fabric. The brush 35, in this instance, is secured to end 33 by a bracket 33. If desired, however, the bracket 36 may be eliminated'an'd the. brush mounted directly-onto the underside of handle 24. It is to be understood that the term brush is meant to include any other device which may be used in rubbing the fabric.

A modified form of gun 31 is shown in Fig. 5 which is similar to the construction of' gun ll], except that a third tube-like member 38 is provided. To the discharge end of member 38 is affixed'a hand-controlled spray nozzle 40 which is'of the same type construction asnozzle 28. In gun 31', the steam tube-like member 23 is positioned'between and slightly below tube-like members'25 and 38'.

When gun 31 is used an auxiliary tank 41, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and containing a difierenttype blending fluid is required; Tanks 4i and ii are of like construction. By having two'types of blending fluids available, a greater varietyof fabrics-may be cleaned with the gun 3?. Leading fromth'e top of tank M is a flexible hose 42', which is connected to tube-like member 38. Nozzles 28' and 4|] and discharging orifice34 of member 26 of gun 31 are relatively so arranged that the discharges therefrom will be directed to substantially the same area on the garment when the-gun is held in a relatively fixed position above the garment.

The steam discharge for both guns Ill and3'l' is controlled by one of the foot pedals l6. Thus a full head of steam is not present at the gun which would endanger the operator in case a rupture in line l3 occurred. A pressure-responsive safety device, not shown, is provided at the discharge ports'of tanks H and 4| which will automatically close 01f the discharge ports if a sudden drop in pressure should occur in the lines 23 and 42, respectively, due to a rupture thereof. The operator is therefore likewise protected from the pressurized fluid upon the lines 23 or 42 breaking.

In Fig. 6, still another modified form of gun 43 is shown which is similar in construction to gun 3! except that tube-like member 26' for the steam has been omitted; The brush 35 in place of being mounted on member 23 as seen in Fig. 5, is fastened directly to the underside of handle 24. The nozzles 28' and 40' are relatively so arranged as to cause'the discharge therefrom to be directed to' approximately'the same point on the garment when the: gun is held at a fixed height thereabove.

Thus itwill be seen a gun has been provided which combines separate steam or fiuid guns and a brush into one lightweight, convenient unit, thereby reducing the time required for performing the spot-removing operation.

While several embodiments. of this invention are shownabove, it will be understood. of course, that the invention is not to be limited thereto, since many modifications may be made, and it is contemplated, therefore, by the appended claims, to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention;

I claim:

1. A garment cleaning device for use with apressurized fluid supply, comprising an elongated hollow handle, and fluid conduit means carried within said handle and extending longitudinally therethrough; said means being connectable at one end to such a supply and having the other end thereof protruding from the end of said handle and terminating in an enlarged tip spaced from said handle end and disposed laterally to one side of the longitudinal axis of the portion of the conduit means positioned within said handle, a portion of said protruding end intermediate said handle end and said enlarged tip being disposed laterally to the opposite side of said longitudinal axis to thereby trap condensate within that" portion of said fluid conduit means as positioned within said handle when the cleaning device is in its normal resting position and out of use.

2. A garment cleaning device for use with a plurality of pressurized fiuid supplies, comprising an elongated hollow handle, a first fluid conduit means carried within said handle and extending longitudinally therethrough, said first conduit means being connectable at one end to one of such pressurized fluid supplies and having the other end thereof protruding from the end of said handle andterminating in an enlarged tip spaced longitudinally from said handle end and disposed laterally to one side of the longitudinal axis of the portion of said first conduit means positioned within said handle-,- a portion of said protruding end intermediate said handle end and said enlarged tip disposed laterally to the opposite side. of said longitudinal axis tothereby trap condensate within that portion of said fiuid conduit means as positioned within said handle when the cleaning device is in its normal resting position and out of use, and a second fluid conduit means carried within said handle and extending longitudinally therethrough', said second conduit means having one end thereof connectable to a second pressurized fluid supply and the other end thereof protruding from said handle and termihating at apoint intermediate said handle end and the enlarged tip of said first conduit means; the protruding terminating ends of said first and second conduit means being angularly disposed with respect to one another wherein the paths of pressurized fluid simultaneously discharged from said terminating ends will intersect one another at a point substantially equidistant from said terminating ends and offset laterally with respect to the longitudinal axis of said handle.

References Cited in the file of this patent Number 10 Number Name Date Traube July 4, 1939 Morken Sept. 26, 1939 Hansen Nov. 23, 1943 Mason Aug. 29, 1944 Downs July 31, 1945 Ball Mar. 23, 1948 Schwartz Aug, 21, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France Jan. 10, 1929 Germany Aug. 14, 1933 

